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Government comes from Greek roots meaning what?

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government

American  

[guhv-ern-muhnt, -er-muhnt] / ˈgʌv ərn mənt, -ər mənt /

noun

• governments
  plural

1. 

   the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; direction of the affairs of a state, community, etc.; political administration.

   Government is necessary to the existence of civilized society.

2. the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed.

   monarchical government; episcopal government.

3. the governing body of persons in a state, community, etc.; administration.

4. a branch or service of the supreme authority of a state or nation, taken as representing the whole.

   a dam built by the government.

5. (in some parliamentary systems, as that of the United Kingdom)

   1. the particular group of persons forming the cabinet at any given time.

      The prime minister has formed a new government.

   2. the parliament along with the cabinet.

      The government has fallen.

6. direction; control; management; rule.

   the government of one's conduct.

7. a district governed; province.

8. political science.

9. Grammar. the extablished usage that requires that one word in a sentence should cause another to be of a particular form.

   the government of the verb by its subject.

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government British  

/ ˈɡʌvənmənt, ˈɡʌvəmənt /

noun

1. the exercise of political authority over the actions, affairs, etc, of a political unit, people, etc, as well as the performance of certain functions for this unit or body; the action of governing; political rule and administration

2. the system or form by which a community, etc, is ruled

   tyrannical government

3. 1. the executive policy-making body of a political unit, community, etc; ministry or administration

      yesterday we got a new government

   2. ( capital when of a specific country )

      the British Government

4. 1. the state and its administration

      blame it on the government

   2. ( as modifier )

      a government agency

5. regulation; direction

6. grammar the determination of the form of one word by another word

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Pronunciation

Normal phonological processes are reflected in a variety of pronunciations for government. Most commonly, the first of assimilates to the immediately following , with the resulting identical nasal sounds coalescing to give the pronunciation . This pronunciation is considered standard and occurs throughout the U.S. For speakers in regions where postvocalic is regularly lost, as along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South, the resulting pronunciation is or, with loss of the medial unstressed vowel, . Further assimilation, in which the labiodental , in anticipation of the bilabial quality of the following , becomes the bilabial stop , leads in the South Midland and Southern U.S. to the pronunciation . See isn't.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countergovernment
  noun
• nongovernment
  noun
• regovernment
  noun
• subgovernment
  noun
• undergovernment
  noun
• governmental
  adjective
• nongovernmental
  adjective
• pro-government
  adjective
• semigovernmental
  adjective
• ungovernmental
  adjective
• governmentally
  adverb
• semigovernmentally
  adverb
• ungovernmentally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• governments
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of government

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Old French word governement. See govern, -ment

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Explanation

Your government is the system of people, laws, and officials that define and control the country that you live in. The U.S. government, for example, is a representative democracy with three branches. There are many different kinds of government, but they all do essentially the same thing: "govern" or oversee the rules, regulations, and interactions of the people who live under them. For the most part, a government is concerned with public life, though many of the laws that a government like ours establishes and enforces can regulate what happens in private life, too. If you work for the government, you're in public life. If you work for a company, you're in the private sector.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

government governments

If a Black Sky event takes out electricity, water, shops and communications, there is a good reason the government wants us to have our own supplies.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

Israel has yet to form a government and it remains unclear what Netanyahu’s chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, would spend on the military, should he come to power.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

“Running on a platform of accountability, transparency, improving efficiency, and making sure government agencies are accountable, we really hope she can help us ensure that Metro is prioritizing public safety,” Levyfield said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

"The previous Welsh government consulted and gathered evidence on proposals to restrict the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16, with broad support for action."

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

“The Federal Emergency Management Agency. City, state, federal government, they’re all telling me the same thing. They can’t get us food and water because they’re ‘too busy handling the emergency.’

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

F1 has been talking to governments and security experts and feels as if it has done everything it can to seek the right assurances.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

AFP takes a look at how tech sector weakness could impact governments and households.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

The company is seeking to capitalize on demand from businesses and governments for greater control over their AI technology and data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

The state and federal governments have pledged to pay for about one-third of the construction costs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Colonial governments, and later the United States, frequently deployed rangers to quash Indigenous resistance and displace Indigenous nations.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

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